Kurobara no Ouji
by BrokenChopsticks
Summary: Bakura Ryou has an important goal these days: to get home with his soul intact. In the process he will have to make several bad deals and find Ryuji Otogi a wife. And when exactly did he agree to save the world anyway? Those rumors of his best friend's death aren't helping much either. *Slight Shounen-ai in later chapters*
1. Prologue

Prologue

It was a pretty damn terrible day for Katsuya Jounouchi. Not that most of them weren't, this one just that much more so.

In the empty auditorium the shadows were sharp against the red setting of the sun.

"Now Katsuya," said the dreaded hard voice, "do tell me, just what did you write in the theorem's proof?"

He didn't even twitch as the tone grew colder with each word, too used to it to really feel intimidated. Annoying. The voice continued like the wrath of a vengeful god, "What exactly is "due to some mysterious reason, let us compare elements after n = 2" supposed to mean?"

Jou buried his blond head stubbornly into the crook of his elbow and leaned even farther onto the desk, "Oh, get lost Kaiba-face, I was half-asleep and you know it." He yawned pointedly, "Still am."

The voice above him growled in warning. "I can only wonder how such an imbecilic person got into To-Oh University, Katsuya." He could imagine Kaiba eyeing him depreciatively. "And don't ever call me that, or you won't live to regret it, mutt."

Jou felt his heckles rise at the humiliating nick-name, much like a real dog's might have, but he was too tired to argue his point. His point of course being that Kaiba Seto should "stuff that extra-large ego of his where the sun don't shine". But that argument lasted between them for years now and so far neither was willing to give. What would another fight change? So, instead he simply asked, "Is today the day?"

"It is," came the precise response.

"For real?" Jou lifted his head curiously, to gaze at Kaiba, who was holding Katsuya's colloquium notes in one hand and a pocket watch in the other. It was an old silver watch with a meter long chain and gilded time hands. Fancy, Jou would have teased Kaiba mercilessly for it, had there not been a reason for his owning the thing. "You ain't pulling my leg, are you?" He smiled sheepishly at the glare those words received, "Just checking… forgot you don't joke for a second there."

"I wouldn't be surprised if you forgot where your feet are in the morning," sneered Kaiba, "And before you ask, yes, Mutou knows." He scowled at the watch, "I told him and that Masaki girl."

"Mazaki," Jounouchi automatically corrected. "This means I don't get to sleep in, doesn't it? Nobody is going to fall for me with black smudges under my eyes and it's going to be your fault," he grouched, swallowing down the casual 'Kaiba-face'. Enough trouble without that…

"Oh, please, save the whining for lecturer Pegasus. Look here," Jou did, expecting to see his notes plus corrections only to get a face full of the silver pocket watch.

It began to sway curiously before his eyes and he froze uncertainly, "Oh-oh."

Blurrily, still following the watch, he saw Kaiba roll his eyes in exasperation, "Get off of it Katsuya, you aren't important enough for me to hypnotize. Just taking care of the drowsiness."

"Ah," said Jou, unable to tear his gaze away in any case, the hands and the pictures on the surface were too fascinating. Was that dragon eating another dragon? He blinked.

….

….

In what seemed like a few seconds to Jou, but must have been minutes, Kaiba moved the watch away, seemingly satisfied.

Katsuya sat up strait and looked at Kaiba with cleared up brown eyes.

"Good, now let's get moving."


	2. Bakura loses his Calm

+ + Кurobara no Ouji + +

Chapter 1

Bakura loses his Calm

"_Bakura is a liar, Bakura is a liar, Bakura…"_

_The kids are singing that nasty song again. Why?_

"_Gran'pa said that those who twist the truth are deth-deth-"_

_Despicable, I suggest._

"_Yes, that! A dethpickable ugly liar!"_

"_Yeah!"_

"_Bakura is a liar, Bakura is a liar…"_

_Bakura… I wonder whose name that is._

Bakura Ryou woke up to the feeling of something cold and wet enveloping him from the crown of his head to the tops of his shoes. The air smelt damp, but it had been raining for days now, so he wasn't worried about that. What had him feeling uneasy was the absolute darkness he found himself in. Experimentally he tried to move, only to bang his forehead on something that rang hollow. Wooden. His face came away even more wet and squishy than before.

The space was cramped and vaguely rectangular-shaped… No way, he thought. Was he in a coffin? The thought came to him only too naturally. Bakura, who was into all things occult, found coffins to be anything but a rare sight. Even if he was inside one. After digesting this dubiously wonderful thought, the boy immediately began to struggle. Nothing like real danger of suffocating to properly wake you up, he lamented. He should know, this wasn't a first or anything.

Putting all of his pathetic strength behind it, Ryou pushed and banged, covering his fists in the cold substance from before. Finally he gave an extra desperate shove and was rather surprised when the wooden casing fell open to reveal… that he was not inside a coffin. He blinked against the moonlight a few times, then he stared. He was at the cemetery like he had thought, but strangely enough, the wooden casket around him was not a coffin but simply bark of a rotting tree. In front he easily could make out a patch of overgrown grass and some crooked tombstones leaning onto each other as they sank deeper into the wet soil. As it was night at the moment, he couldn't see any farther, but he definitely wasn't supposed to be sleeping at the graveyard, inside of a coffin or otherwise.

Deaf to his confusion, the rain kept drizzling gloomily just as it had been all of last week and the slimy film on his body seemed to shift in response. Looking down Ryou discovered the first thing that night that would make him lose his calm. With an unpleasant twist to his stomach, he studied that which caused the damp cold feeling from earlier. Everywhere his clothes couldn't reach, tiny black worms were crawling along his skin.

Ryou almost cried out from distress, but was too afraid to open his mouth. His heart hammering like that of a tiny bird, he stared at his limbs covered with a writhing mass of creepy-crawlers. He recalled the squishy sound from when he hit his forehead. The spot there was definitely covered in…

Something inside him twitched and snapped. He now knew exactly why he was here. After all as he had said, this was by no means the first time. Really, he should have figured it out earlier. Last time Ryou had been at the graveyard not of his own volition was the second week after he changed schools. The upperclassmen found out about his love for occult and dragged him there at night. At the time, Ryou kept quiet and let them bully him as was his usual course of action. He returned home in the morning then.

But this… this was going too far. So far it was beyond the limit of even his saint-like patience. Ryou endured bullying at every school he went to, but leaving him at an unfamiliar graveyard covered in _worms_? Who did those boys think they were, doing things like that to others? And he was so not in the mood for oozing bugs tonight. Whimpering in disgust, Ryou jerked his arms and legs as if on fire. He swore he could feel himself die a little inside each time a slimy body shifted across his skin. The sky seemed to take pleasure in mocking him as well, since the steady drizzle of the rain intensified until it became a faucet stream, causing Ryou to shiver all over.

A minute passed as he hopped around, wildly thrashing his limbs and stomping the grass in search of 'survivors'. It took another minute for him to slightly calm down. Finally having finished the task of cleaning off the overly friendly bugs, Bakura grit his teeth. Enough was enough. Those upperclassmen would pay, surely. He would report this to the chairman and have them expelled. And then he would call their homes and gloat, a lot. Um, after he got back to Domino city, of course. Because this definitely wasn't Domino.

This was the closest that Bakura Ryou had ever come to swearing revenge on anyone, so when he finally crawled away from the wormy trunk he was feeling a little surreal. The air smelled of heather and moss and some other overly sweet plant. The heavy rain felt like solid hits against his face when he looked up. Even the moonlight breaking through the weeping clouds seemed to emphasize how empty of human presence this place was. In fact, cold rain aside, this all felt like a whole different world or a very bad dream. Well then…

Ryou relaxed.

He liked bad dreams. Unlike any other, they always told fascinating stories, and even now he was ready to listen. For Bakura, for as long as he remembered, he had no friends to play with. Ever since primary school talking to people became hard for him. And as kids grow bored easily, he let himself deal in occult more than was probably healthy. Just for fun. Soon, rather than be afraid like his classmates, Ryou was curious about the shadows on his wall, the sounds in his basement, the bright flickering of the candle at night. His fascination grew into obsession and his curiosity became insatiable. Little scared Bakura Ryou now. Now he felt ready to explore and find his way home.

As it turned out, the graveyard was humongous, nothing like the small one in Domino city and much more unkempt. But it certainly had character, Ryou decided. What with the individual fencing differing from grave to grave, yet all metal equally rusted and bent. Fair. Most of the miniatures on the tombstones had been wiped away, but on a double grave a series of carvings of angels were preserved perfectly. Ryou thought it might have been a family grave and smiled. When his sister died, Ryou's father had her buried in the family grave with a carving very similar to this one. He had said that she deserved to go to the sky. Feeling pity for the dead resting here, Bakura adjusted a few fences and reaped out a couple of weeds, but the place stayed just as decrepit. Under the rain the weeds would grow back in a few days at most. He would have left by then.

Suddenly feeling like an idiot for not thinking of it earlier, Ryou searched his pockets for a phone, but quickly found it missing. Slightly worried now, he checked again, only to get the same results. A deck of cards and a piece of sour cranberry candy in his left jean pocket and a wrapper from the same candy in his right. There also might have been a few hundred yen hidden in his sock, but Bakura refused to check in the rain. Just to be sure, he ran back and looked inside the trunk, only to find that his phone wasn't there either, but the small worms had left. How peculiar.

Bakura sighed. He was certain now that his schoolmates had taken his phone. This definitely spoiled his chances of getting back early. With no way of contacting anyone he would have to walk back on his own, which could take a while, depending on how far from the city he was. And he probably would be late for school and the school would contact his father and his father would be worried and… Bakura realized that he actually didn't mind if that happened. He would at least get to see him then. The older Bakura wasn't a caring man, not any more at least, always too busy with his trips. Ryou resented his father for it sometimes, but the feeling didn't last. It just wasn't in his nature to hold grudges and all was forgiven until his dad broke another promise to visit or Bakura just felt unbearably lonely.

But that aside, now it would only bring more trouble to break rules or dawdle any more. Plus, it was his own fault for allowing this to happen. He had to reach home, get a hot drink and do his latest homework. And maybe play a game of Duel Monsters. For that to happen he first had to leave the remote cemetery. He didn't even remember getting there so it promised to be quite the task. Always optimistic, he decided to keep going the way he had started, beyond the angel-engraved headstones to hopefully reach the gate at some point.

The dirt shifted softly under his footfalls as he walked on for what must have been an hour. The grass grew denser on this path, but otherwise nothing had changed. Bakura was starting to get the feeling that he was going in the wrong direction altogether. Fighting back a frown, he stopped to consider the distance, but even without the water curtain, it would have done him no good. Behind and ahead of him rows of graves stretched endlessly, as if forming a town, and not a single one of them held any posies or lanterns. Abandoned or pillaged regularly by thieves.

Deciding to take a break to avoid catching a cold, Bakura sat down by a small tomb. Its cracked edges covered him nicely from the raindrops and made it easy to rest. Snuggling deeper into the fur of his lime-green jacket, Ryou crouched by the tiny entrance to the tomb. There he dazedly admired the animal pictures drawn on the walls in neat columns. The pictures looked old and the pattern familiar, shapes of beasts he was sure he had seen somewhere before. It was all making him too drowsy to think. Just as he was about to drift into sleep, a sibilant voice whispered right into his ear,

"What are you doing here, human?"

Ryou shrieked.

"Hehe, you actually jumped. Pathetic," clutching his chest and breathing heavily Bakura looked to the source of the voice. Icy blue eyes that shone from under matted white bangs stunned him into silence. Another person was here, and yet…

That mocking laugh didn't sound quite right, somehow. He felt the hairs on his neck stand up in alarm. This was another familiar feeling.

"You'll get devoured by the string-worms if you sleep there, you know." The blue-eyed apparition smirked not unkindly, "What, don't tell me you haven't actually noticed? Poor thing, you are as pale as sheet."

And Ryou must have been. Lack of sleep coupled with the stress of waking up in an unfamiliar place was getting to him. And what was that about worms? He got rid of those, right? Tense from the sudden encounter Bakura risked a glance at his hands. Nothing. What was he thinking, worms didn't eat people anyway.

"What are you doing?" his gaze returned to the strange man, taking in the disheveled state of his hair and clothes. A gray burlap shirt hung wet and heavy on the bony frame and the pants, held in place by a vividly red sash, were ripped and covered in layers of dirt. He must have come from one of the tombs around them. A robber? Was there even anything to steal here? Plus, he looked eerily like Ryou, just blue-eyed and with shorter hair. His uneasiness only intensified.

"Taking a walk, yes, that's what you'd better think," his doppelgänger had a lilting way of speaking that made Bakura uncomfortable. The guy managed to make every word sound dangerous or highly suggestive, nothing like Ryou's own soft-spoken tone. "And just what are _you_ doing here at night, human?"

Intense blue eyes squinted at him curiously through the dark and Ryou sat up ramrod straight under the scrutiny, "N-nothing, I got lost," he looked up hopefully, "Could you maybe help me find a way out?"

The amused stare he got in return made Ryou sweat. That was the look people usually got before they started bullying him for his girly looks or foreign accent.

"Please?" he tried again, voice falling at the end, "…no?"

All he got in response was a high-pitched snort and a shake of the head.

"Aren't you the cutest thing since puppies?" the white-haired man's face twisted into an even wider grin, revealing disturbingly sharp canines. "I kind of like you, you're pleasantly stupid."

Ryou wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, but as usual he settled for the safest answer, "Thank you?"

That got him another snort. What he heard next made him freeze.

"Do you feel like dying by my hand, mortal?"

That didn't sound like a joke. And if it was, it wasn't a funny one. The uneasiness became something akin to knowing. Those eyes were too blue. The graveyard was too empty. And at that moment Bakura was afraid. Fearless occult lover Bakura found himself truly scared. That's what the familiar feeling was. Real danger. Heartbeat like that of a small bird. He recalled rows upon rows of colored bottles. The smell of dust and overly sweet herbs. He wanted to scream, but was afraid to open his mouth. Nothing like suffocation, he should know. He did not want to die. Not yet.

But the person beside him was cold. He was the empty kind of cold, the cold when you put your hand on frozen glass in winter. The cold of an open grave. Was this boy even breathing? Was Ryou?

It was starting to sink in that this was nothing like a dream. He was in actual danger here, wasn't he? He could lose his life here, couldn't he? Unnaturally blue eyes held his gaze until Ryou realized he really had stopped breathing and looked away. Just… just who was this guy?! Oh, he had a few guesses and none of them good.

"Oh, not so dumb after all, hmm? Hahaha, you're even shaking, how flattering… and how appropriate," the teasing tone now scared Bakura more than anything. Ryou's intuition was shouting at him to run the hell away. And preferably fast.

Never one to stay for trouble which could be avoided, he dashed to the side and to the surprised chuckle of the blue-eyed menace fell into a practiced sprint. He ran fast, good upper leg strength the school coach would tell him each time Ryou managed to outrun half his class, gained through desperate escapes from bullies and perfected by high school. Apparently he didn't run fast enough.

Bony fingers grabbed at his right wrist and tugged. Ryou saw a flash of black nails as they briefly dug into his skin and drew blood. Miraculously, Bakura kept his balance only to get snatched by his overly long hair. Should have listened to his father and cut it. Now he might not get the chance. Hissing at the painful tugs, he was once again looking into luminous blue eyes.

"Silly human, prey can't ever get away from me," the thing was obviously having fun at his expanse; the other's face had an entranced look to it when he looked at Ryou. "I do wonder, however, why you have white hair. Humans all have boring coloring, no?"

Instead of answering Ryou did the second dumbest thing in his recent memory besides asking this creature for help. Ruthlessly tearing at his hair, he head-butted his captor in the face. Human of not, the thing cried out all the same, giving Ryou time to slip out of the slackened grip, leaving only ripped out strands of hair behind.

Then he ran. He ran not knowing where, not caring if he left this place anymore. He had to get away, as far away from his blue-eyed look-alike as possible. The pounding in his ears, the pain from torn hair and cut wrist left him no doubt. This was not a dream. And if he didn't make sure he survived, no one else would.

Tombs changed into fresh graves before his eyes, forcing Ryou to slow down, but he didn't even think of stopping. That thing was in hot pursuit, jumping over gravestones and ash urns with all the grace of a cat. Ryou's clumsy moves just couldn't compare.

Soon enough he tripped on a treacherously empty grave, his shoe sinking into lose dirt. He made a move to get up, but his foot was seemingly stuck for good. The thing called for him to wait up and accept his death like all prey should, but Ryou was scared beyond reason at this point. Praying for his luck to hold out a little longer, he threw off the sneaker that was stuck in the ground, vacantly noting a new stack of yen fly out and land in the dirt. Half-barefoot and delirious with fear, he rushed deeper between the tombs with the crooning of the white-haired man filling his ears.

"Come here little morsel, come here, I'll keep your heart nicely preserved and your liver as good as new."

Ryou felt like puking, but adrenaline kept him moving. He had been right; the graveyard was empty of human life. He knew what sort of creature gathered body pieces of the dead. He just had no idea they, well, existed. But he read a whole lot on them and in each book the bottom line was: don't get caught by one. The night flew by Ryou as he rushed forward with all his might. He couldn't stop no matter what. Swerve to the side, avoid an open grave, just don't trip on the urn, and, for God's sake, don't look back.

After a few minutes of blind zigzagging the manic laughter grew quitter and now Ryou had become aware of the burning in chest. His back was warm despite the night chill and his scalp had stopped throbbing before long. The rhythmic thumping of his bare foot against the dirt was satisfying somehow and he found it in himself to hope. Had he done it? Had he escaped from that person?

But even if he had, there was no stopping now. A true monster was on his hills, set on getting his heart. Because that's what Soul Stealers did; they ate souls and stole hearts and sometimes other organs. Much like crow demons they would store their treasures for years. When he had first learned of them, Ryou vividly imagined a shelf of different organs displayed like prizes. The blue-eyed creature would fit into such a picture perfectly. Ryou could just see that fascinated look on his face as the Soul Stealer strode along the grotesque show, sharp black nails skimming along each body piece but never stopping. Never stopping… Bakura was determined not to get caught.

And he had almost made it, the Stealer's laughter and threats almost inaudible at that point. But he was so distracted with increasing the distance that he didn't notice the tall figures ahead until he ran smack-dab into one. Flowing garbs, priest-like in cut and a dark violet filled his vision.

"**Kusari no Koinu**," he heard a tall figure's deep baritone say from the folds of the hood.

And all around him Bakura heard the clinking of chains. Seconds later he fell down in a disoriented jumble of limbs, chained to a gravestone. The metal dug into his neck and forearms, making it impossible to move. With loud curses and hissing another body slammed into his.

Surprised, Bakura opened his eyes. Chained by his side was none other than the white-haired apparition. They were both surrounded by the imposing people in flowing garbs. Ryou counted five of them, but there might have been two more standing at the back. It was too hard to tell in the dark.

"Move foolish mortal."

It was his pursuer speaking. The other boy sounded no longer amused, just bitter. He jerked at the thick metal chain, making Ryou choke.

The hooded group didn't appreciate the move.

"Cease and desist thief, we found you both at the Mutou grave site," spoke the robed man. His tone was perfectly balanced and uncaring and he himself was stiff as he hold the ends of the chain. He had called it… Puppy Chain? That was unexpectedly silly. This might be a dream after all, sweat dropped Ryou.

"Ha, as if any of you simple Shades could hope to stop me," the now apparent thief threw back. Ryou threw him a horrified gaze. Talk about from the frying pan and into the fire. This whole thief and heart-stealing business was disturbing enough and now Shades? As in the Guardians of the Dead Tower kind of Shades? The Tower that should be pure fiction? Bakura Ryou was afraid of nothing and knew his fair share of occult teachings but right now he was hoping with all his might to wake up.

And if this wasn't a dream (it probably wasn't, it never is when you want it to be), then he still had to get out of this. Preferably with all of his organs intact.

He tried to think of a solution. The other was probably bluffing, because Ryou certainly saw no easy way of escaping the situation. But there was a chance if he defended himself. He was a victim here after all, he could try telling the Shades that he was not a thief but a lost person. This might be his only chance, so he had to try it! Oh, please, let him be lucky..!

Ryou was about to open his mouth and hopefully claim his innocence, but had to stifle an undignified squawk instead. His look-alike was riffling through his pockets none too gently. In the process he groped a few places high on Ryou's never to be touched list, before withdrawing his hands with a nasty smile.

"In fact I challenge you guys to a duel," he smirked cockily at the Shades as a candy wrapper fell from his fingers. The apparent leader of the Shades stiffened even more after seeing him move. At the prolonged silence he drawled, "What, rules are rules, right?" then friendlier to Ryou, "Was that cranberry candy? Nice taste."

Bakura simply didn't know what to say or how to react any more. He was at the graveyard. Arrested by some Shades. Shades, the Dark Priests, guardians of a very much mythical Dead Clock Tower. And what appeared to be a Soul Stealer was molesting him and eating his last drop of candy. Fuck his luck. Ryou was never relying on it again.

Instead of sorting this madness out and risking frying his brain he hung his head and chose to see what happened next. This was after all, a practiced approach for Bakura Ryou.

He wasn't even offended when the Shades began snickering at their prisoners.

"Not this time, thief" the closest one, the leader chuckled darkly, "Everyone at The Tower heard the stories. That you haven't been able to duel ever since Marik Ishtar died.

Ah, thought Ryou. Okay, back to sorting things out. He knew one Marik Ishtar as well. You could even say Ryou knew Marik Ishtar very well. It was he after all who owned Ryou's favorite occult shop down the street. But how did the energetic Arabic lad know the Soul Stealer? And when exactly did Marik die? He seemed perfectly healthy the day before, albeit slightly snarkier than usual.

"Oh, don't worry your nasty little heads," the spirit held up Ryou's Duel Monsters deck with a sharp-toothed grin, "it won't be me you'll be facing."

Aaand back to just panicking. The chains rattled as he jerked.

"Me?! No way!" Ryou protested as soon as he got his bearings. He knew what happened to those who lost in games with Shades! Shadow games took the loser's soul as payment! Marik had certainly been graphic in his descriptions of what exactly that entailed. "I'd rather wear a tutu!"

The Shades standing at the back chortled at the scene, the chain-holder seemingly unworried about the Spirit's challenge.

"Come on boy, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Take a Leap of Faith here!" the Stealer cajoled rather effectively, "Or would you rather go study the inside of The Tower for a few decades?"

"YES!" shouted Bakura, panicking. How was losing his soul a better alternative?! The Soul Stealer would probably eat his soul himself even if Ryou won!

The other looked like he wanted to shout back at Ryou, but thought better of it.

"We could win if we fought together, you know," The spirit nudged Ryou with his bony shoulder, "Don't know about you, but I'm pretty confident it myself."

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard! Aren't Shades the law keepers? We'd be complete idiots to fight them," protested Ryou hotly.

His look-alike lifted his eyebrow, "Even if I said I'd be your very own Deck Master?"

There was a pause in which Ryou forgot what he was about to say. Instead he let out a quiet, "You know how to..?"

All he got in response was a confident smirk. It was only that smirk and the brief mention of Marik that made Ryou shut up and think. The situation was maddening, but a lot was at stake here. Like it or not, the only one temporary ally he had was a human-eating spirit. A spirit, who looked like Ryou's identical twin. And damn them both to hell and back, Bakura decided to believe him. He repeated to himself that victory might be theirs to take. Indeed, if someone like Ryou had a Deck Master, the chances to win literally skyrocketed. If Ryou was good at anything it was Duel Monsters. The million yen question was, was Ryou willing to risk everything in the duel? His gut was telling him to sit tight and just endure it as always, but what did his gut know. For him this was a chance to really do something for the first time.

"What do you say, boy? Going to give up without trying?" jeered his previous enemy.

Even the leader of the Shades seemed to be listening to Ryou's answer now, but the chains were still firmly in place.

Ha, it was all so idiotic. A human and a living spirit chained to a tombstone and arguing as the rain beat down on them. His doppelganger knew (had known?) Ryou's only friend. A friend who might very well be dead, if Shades were to be believed. He also could fight. The eerie blue eyes like in books and old diaries loomed above Ryou and he thought what agreeing would mean for him. It was a choice between rotting in a timeless prison or putting up a fight and maybe escaping. Really, what would Marik have said?

"Oh, hell no, I'm not fucking dying here!" with that Ryou reached out and grabbed his Duel Monsters Deck from spirit's hand. These people were asking for a shadow duel!

The Soul Stealer grinned, "I love pleasantly stupid people!"


End file.
